Fu Nanzhi covered her mouth and laughed, her dimples faintly visible on her cheeks.
If Shen Yi hadn't reminded her, she might really have forgotten. Of course, she wouldn't admit it verbally—she was never one to back down from a challenge.
"Hehe, you being smart is the best."
Shen Yi shook his head and chuckled. He knew her well—whenever he was around, her brain seemed to go on hold, rarely thinking much for herself. She was adorably naive.
"By the way, what are all these bags you're carrying?"
Seeing Shen Yi ask, Fu Nanzhi responded calmly:
"Nothing much, just some clothes for us to change into, and a few gifts for your parents."
"For our first visit, we can't go empty-handed, right?"
Shen Yi glanced at the rearview mirror before switching lanes, saying casually,
"It's like _you're_ the one meeting the in-laws. What kind of gifts did you bring?"
"Oh... some tobacco, liquor, and tea for your dad, and a makeup kit for your mom."
Fu Nanzhi grinned and replied nonchalantly.
"Don't go overboard with the quality. Just pick something similar to what we got last time."
Shen Yi reminded her.
It wasn't that he was nitpicking, but if the gifts were too extravagant, his parents might feel reluctant to use them and could end up asking too many questions.
Last time, the gifts were prepared by Shen Yi himself, without letting Fu Nanzhi get involved.
Meeting the parents of the bride wasn't usually a big deal—it was more about the intention than the gifts themselves.
To his surprise, Fu Nanzhi seemed quite proud of herself and thumped her chest confidently, saying,
"It's already bought, so you can't take it back now. Don't worry, they didn't cost anything."
Then she counted them off on her fingers,
"Look, the tobacco was 'borrowed' from my dad, the wine came from the family cellar."
"The tea was a gift from Uncle Cheng to my dad, and the makeup kit was taken from my mom."
"Not a single thing cost any money. How about that, am I amazing or what?"
As she spoke, she tilted her head, casting a playful glance at Shen Yi, clearly seeking praise.
Shen Yi's mouth hung open for a moment before he managed to snap it shut, eventually managing to stutter out,
"That's why you're the champion of thrift."
"You're like an ant moving house, everything's stolen from home. If our dad sees this, he'll flip."
Fu Nanzhi waved it off nonchalantly,
"Don't worry, the tobacco and alcohol are always given as gifts anyway. One box more or less won't catch his eye."
"As for my mom's cosmetics, she has way too many—they're just sitting there, and they might expire. It's better if I help her use some of them."
Shen Yi glanced at her sideways, barely holding back his laughter,
"You really are your parents' little sweetheart."
Fu Nanzhi huffed and turned her head to look out the window, muttering,
"Don't talk nonsense. I did this for who, huh?"
Shen Yi quickly soothed her,
"Alright, alright, our Nanzhi is the best."
"This way, we won't give the tobacco—it's not good for health anyway. We can leave the tea and wine for him to drink, and as for the makeup, my mom probably won't recognize the brands my mom uses, so she won't know the difference. If she uses them, so be it."
Shen Yi made arrangements for the gifts she had brought.
The two chatted and laughed for a while before the car fell silent. Fu Nanzhi gradually leaned against the side, dozing off.
She had been quite excited last night and had woken up early, so she hadn't had much sleep.
With the car smoothly cruising on the highway, she soon fell asleep.
Shen Yi quietly turned down the music inside the car and continued to drive attentively.
About two and a half hours later, Fu Nanzhi woke up from her nap, straightened up, stretched, and let out a cute little murmur.
She rubbed her sleepy eyes and asked,
"Honey, how long did I sleep? How much longer until we get home?"
Shen Yi glanced at the navigation and replied,
"You slept for about two and a half hours. We're almost there—about thirty kilometers left before we exit the highway."
"I slept that long? I didn't feel it at all—I thought I only dozed off for a little while."
Fu Nanzhi quickly opened her eyes and swiped at her phone, finding that it was already ten o'clock.
Seeing that the time was right, Shen Yi pressed a button on the steering wheel,
"You stay quiet for now, I'm calling home."
"Oh..."
...
The phone connected.
"Hello? Mom."
"Hmm? Why are you calling at this time?"
"I'll be home in less than an hour, so make some food for me at noon—I'm hungry."
"Why did you suddenly decide to come back? On vacation?"
"Yeah, just coming back to see you."
"Oh... Should I have your dad pick you up at the station?"
"No need, I can come back by myself."
"Okay, what do you want for lunch? Mom will cook it for you."
"The usual, I'll eat whatever you make."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye."
The brief call ended, as Shen Yi's way of communicating with his parents had always been straightforward.
Fu Nanzhi, who had been listening to Shen's Mother's voice, also felt a sense of familiarity. Seeing him hang up, she quickly asked,
"Why didn't you mention me? You should've said that Nanzhi is also coming to see them."
Shen Yi would've loved to flick her forehead if he weren't occupied with driving.
"Dummy, my parents don't even know you yet."
"Besides, it's meant to be a surprise—if we'd told them in advance, it would've turned into chaos unnecessarily."
Fu Nanzhi thought about it seriously and nodded thoughtfully,
"Oh, right."
In their previous life, because they had informed Shen's Mother in advance, she had left the house at the crack of dawn to rush to the market to grab all kinds of ingredients. She fussed over cooking and cleaning the house, exhausting herself in an effort to welcome the unknown daughter-in-law.
Their low education level and simple nature meant they could only go to great lengths to host her properly, which was heart-wrenching to witness.
Now, however, these formalities were unnecessary. There was no need to put his parents through all that work again.
Linjiang County wasn't big and development was relatively slow, classifying it as a small town in the fourth or fifth tier.
The family had a house in the county, initially intended for Shen Yi's engagement. However, Shen's Father and Shen's Mother usually lived in a rural residence.
Not stopping in the county, Shen Yi drove all the way to the town.
Fu Nanzhi looked out at the familiar scenery and felt her memories slowly coming alive.
Turning onto the smaller road and entering the town, the first house on the east side of the street belonged to Shen Yi's family.
Back in those days, most rural homes were self-built houses. Instead of Shen Yi's family, they had a white wall, red roof, and a courtyard, offering a comfortable living space.
Parking the car, Shen Yi and Fu Nanzhi got out, each carrying bags as they walked toward the courtyard.
As they approached the gate, Shen Yi called out,
"Old Man Liu, busy?"
Neighbor Old Man Liu, a bamboo craftsman, was weaving a basket. Hearing the commotion, he turned his head and said,
"Oh, little Shen's back, I didn't even notice. I've already eaten."
As he spoke, he noticed Fu Nanzhi behind Shen Yi, and his wrinkled face lit up with surprise, asking,
"Who's this?"
"Oh... this is my girlfriend."
Shen Yi replied with a smile, at which point Fu Nanzhi stepped forward to greet him,
"Hello, Old Man Liu."
"Hello! Good, good. Little Shen's doing great, bringing his girlfriend home—I always knew you had it in you."
Old Man Liu reached out and gave Shen Yi a thumbs-up.
Shen Yi modestly laughed,
"Well, you keep busy, we'll go in first."
"Sure, go ahead."
Old Man Liu watched the couple enter the house's gate, his expression thoughtful. After a while, he nodded to himself, returning to his work as he muttered,
"Good, good."
In the meantime, Shen Yi led Fu Nanzhi through the door and into the courtyard, calling out,
"Mom! I'm back!"
"Come back if you want, why are you shouting like you're calling a ghost?"
In the kitchen, Shen's Mother's irritable voice echoed out.
【Prologue: The Beginning of It All – Use holy water to heal the saintess tainted by demonic energy, then converse with her.】 Shen Nian stared at his older sister sipping yogurt, lost in thought. So you’re telling me my sister is the saintess, and yogurt is the holy water? 【Main Quest 1: Brave Youth, Become an Adventurer! Reward: Rookie Adventurer Title.】 【Side Quest 1: Find the Adorable Kitty! Reward: 1000 Gold Coins.】 Shen Nian: "Wait, I’m a high school senior here—did some guy who got isekai’d accidentally bind his system to me?" Hold on, completing quests gives gold rewards? Titles even boost stats? Is this for real? (A lighthearted, absurd campus comedy—not a revenge power fantasy.)
lity and could only live as an ordinary mortal. He only wished to live a peaceful life. Yet he didn't know— The dog he adopted, because it ate his food, became a legendary demon king. The kitchen knife he casually forged became a peerless divine weapon, causing numerous experts to fight desperately for it. The young disciple he took in became an immortal lord that led an era, due to cultivating the techniques Ye Feng taught him. Even the skeletons he looked down on the most were ominous demon kings that suppressed countless worlds. Many years later, looking at the void shattered with a punch, Ye Feng murmured to himself: It turns out the peerless kings were myself all along...
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
